No Mess fish food?

[Pomatomus]

I feed these to my large cichlids and polys. I always favored it over massivore because I think it's cleaner (plus my cichlids won't touch massivore). I have noticed that if I feed more slowly, the fish will eat them more slowly. I get issues when I throw about 10 sticks in for my mayan cichlid and he acts like a dog trying to stuff too many tennis balls in its mouth. Then he starts puffing it out of his gills. Oscars however, are messy eaters relative to many other fish. I do not have any issues with scraps lying around, but my gravel beds are a few inches deep so I'm sure a lot collects in there. My mayan is in a 55g by himself though and his gravel is always clean.

By having a bare tank it may be making things more difficult for you. When I used to feed this stuff to my oscars they would also spend time sifting through the gravel and picking up missed bits. Perhaps a catfish would work for you? Even a pleco should work!

 

[CanadianKeeper]

What about switching to a higher quality pellet, that is smaller in diameter, and not a stick? One that the fish will spend more time swallowing, and less time blowing chunks out their gills. One that they will also digest more efficiently vs Tetra.

On a black painted bottom it doesn't matter you feed, it's going to eventually show up, but IMO you can reduce that build up via a higher quality food, such as NLS, or Northfin, in which case you can feed less than you currently are, as both foods contain higher quality ingredients that are more digestible than what you are currently feeding. For oscars that size I would feed a 4mm or 4.5mm pellet, sinking or floating, whatever they prefer.

this is quality info. I am 100% open to new fish food types. Im glad I have a couple to look for, I might also get a pleco or cat to suck up the bottom gunk.